Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 5,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,754,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,811,000 after buying an additional 9,822 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 0.5% in the third quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,034,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,471,000 after acquiring an additional 10,560 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 117.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,320 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,871,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,200,000 after purchasing an additional 149,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,585,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,152,000 after purchasing an additional 84,596 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WTRG opened at $40.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.88. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.57 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.84.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 65.00%.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.